Don't be hung up on ranks. I learn TKD/MMA that has Hapkido blended in and he is a 3rd Dan ... goes for 4th on Saturday. From talking to him he says anything over 3rd gets very political. A person at this rank does not necessarily have to been even learning his own art to get this just as long as they are doing "a" martial art and have put in the required amount of hours.

Possible this instructor is not unlike mine that has spent a tremendous amount of time at this rank and just hadn't seen it as necessary to get the next Dan because teaching was far more important.

As a white belt anything higher then your present level is qualified to teach you. But to answer your question from a my school's prespective 2nd dgree is the first level of Instructor he may have range of help from 5th kup up to 1st level Black belt. 3rd and 4th dan is JR. Master at our school its just title. A 4th dan has more then 10-15 years in training, usually.

At my hapkido school my instructor is a 3rd dan in hapkido and also a 4th dan in TKD. He tests all his students up through provisional black belt and then his instructor, Master Geoff Booth - an 8th dan bb - adminsters the bb tests.

I think butterfly has the right idea - rank really doesn't tell how effective an instructor someone is, not to mention how good a practitioner he or she is. The only way to tell is to attend some classes and see how the person instructs and how their students' abilities appear to you. My instructor is "only" a 3rd dan but he's an exceptionally gifted athlete who trains diligently, eats a strict vegetarian diet, participates in triathlons, and most importantly is a really, really, nice guy - all attributes that comprise a gifted instructor and practitioner.

Go down and find out, or challenge him to a fight if you win he is no good!

*ROFL*

Not true. I have know people who can teach great, buttheir personal skills are only ok to below average. Some people are just not great fighters.As for the rank thing. Even if they are a first Dan, they still know up to 1st dan. They can teach you that. And if they continue their training then as you progress so will they, and they will always be able to teach you. If someone has been studying long enough to get 4th dan and does not know what they are doing then there is a bigger problem than if they are a good teacher or not. Its like others have said, give em a chance.

At our club Asst. Instructors are 2nd Dan and Full Instructors are 3rd Dan. I was promoted to 2nd Dan and Asst. Instructor just before I graduated college, that was almost 4 years ago. And I would have hesitations being instructed by a 4th Dan. Actually I wouldn't have any hesitations learning from a green belt that exicutes a particular throw more efficiently than me.

Bottom line, for me knowledge doesn't come from the amount of stripes on our belt or a patch on our uniform. I'd visit the class a few times, based on how things are run and the enthusiasm level in the room you should be able to tell very quickly if he has a deep knowledge of his/her Art or whether he was promoted by an online program that doesn't require video tests :-)

That's a great point jsgro82 about learning from everyone, regardless of their rank. I just started judo a couple weeks ago, mainly because they also train jiu-jitsu and I need to free roll as much as possible, and last night we were working a throw and this little, 11-yr. old orange belt, walked up to me and wanted to throw me--he's about 70 lbs and I'm 6' 2", 190 lbs. The thing is, the kid (George is his name) had EXCELLENT technique! He actually showed me how to get my hips involved in the throw and use my lower body to generate power. Very cool. Now, if I'd had the wrong attitude about learning from some "kid" I would have missed out on the opportunity to get some valuable information on executing a good judo throw.

Martial arts is amazing like that--it never ceases to teach me humility, respect, and open-mindedness.